Nat Moore believes Ryan Tannehill ready to be ‘the guy’ in Year Two

Posted by Mike Wilkening on June 15, 2013, 9:22 PM EDT

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Former Dolphins wide receiver Nat Moore’s career encompassed parts of Bob Griese’s and Dan Marino’s careers in Miami, and Moore believes Ryan Tannehill is ready to assert himself like those former Dolphins passers, he told the Miami Herald‘s Adam Beasley in a story published Saturday.

“With Tannehill going into the second year, being the guy who controls the offense, knowing what he wants to do with the football, he will be the guy similar to Bob and Dan,” Moore said, according to the Herald. “They told us where they wanted us to be and they got us the ball, and gave us a chance to catch the ball and do something with it.”

Griese, for his part, sees Tannehill ready to become more demanding in the huddle when needed.

“There’s just something about going from the first year to the second year,” Griese said, according to the Herald.

Only 24, and entering his third consecutive full season at quarterback after a stint at receiver for Texas A&M, it will be interesting to see how Tannehill develops on a Dolphins club that made a series of bold season moves. Of particular note: the Dolphins have improved the pass-catching talent around their young quarterback. However, dependable left tackle Jake Long and versatile running back Reggie Bush are gone, and defenses will have an offseason to study Tannehill all the more.

On the other hand, Tannehill now has a season of NFL experience to his credit, and he was not overwhelmed in Year One.

Jake Long hasn’t been reliable in 2 years and Reggie was good but he wasn’t a world beater…that said I hope Nat Moore and Bob Griese are right about Tanny. If he gets the chemistry down with all his new toys and the oline shows they can step up they have a solid chance to give the Pats a run for their money.

The fact that he was not overwhelmed last year, with the lack of pass catchers at his disposal, speaks volumes…

cwk22 says:Jun 15, 2013 10:12 PM

I hope he gets better with age and not worse like Sanchez. I am tired of being a frustrated Dolphin fan. Been a fan since about 1970, and it seems like there have been a lot more bad years then I ever thought we would have.

There certainly are a lot of people around Miami that are saying Tannehill is going to take that next step. He seems to have shown plenty to his coaches, team mates, and former players. Not one has shown any hesitation to claim he’s going to be a good one. Usually you hear a little hemming and hawing, or they will throw in an “I hope…” but not with Tanney, everybody is all in with him.